Ouch, Canada.
The World Sequence wasn’t supposed to start out like this. The Dodgers weren’t supposed to start their inevitable championship march like this.
Even taking part in of their raucous Rogers Centre north of the border within the opener Friday, the lovable little Toronto Blue Jays have been alleged to be a far inferior group, eh?
Uhhhh…
For baseball’s burgeoning dynasty, there immediately looms catastrophe. For the dominating Dodgers, that is now a World Critical.
The Blue Jays didn’t simply win Recreation 1, they hammered the Dodgers right into a maple-leafy pulp, 11-4, battering their ace and bruising their ego and sending a message.
It was delivered within the ninth inning, when the followers rained a chant down on Shohei Ohtani, who spurned the Blue Jays in his free agent sweepstakes two years in the past and whose two-run homer meant nothing Friday evening.
“We don’t need you… we don’t need you.”
When the sport ended shortly and mercifully thereafter, one other unstated message had been despatched.
You realize the place you’ll be able to stick your broom…
Actually, the one factor getting swept on this sequence is the Dodgers’ aura of invincibility, because the Blue Jays did precisely what they wanted to do by hitting them exactly the place it hurts.
Welcome to the postseason, Dodger bullpen.
Now get misplaced.
Carrying down ace Blake Snell for 29 pitches within the first inning and 100 pitches by the sixth, the pesky Blue Jays hitter loaded the bases with none out when Snell left the sport for the maligned and just lately ignored Dodger relievers.
Reasonably predictably, all Hortons broke unfastened.
Emmet Sheehan lasted 4 hitters and allowed three baserunners. Ernie Clement singled in a run, Nathan Lukes walked to pressure in a run and Andrés Giménez singled in a run, and have you ever ever heard of any of these guys?
Enter Anthony Banda, and exit an Addison Barger fly ball into the right-field stands for the primary pinch-hit grand slam in World Sequence historical past. Add an ensuing single by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and a house run from Alejandro Kirk and also you just about get the image.
The Dodgers gave up 9 runs within the sixth inning, greater than twice as many runs as they gave up in your entire four-game Nationwide League Championship Sequence win in opposition to the Milwaukee Brewers.
Worse but, they allowed, for the primary time this postseason, some doubt.
Did the seven days off for the reason that NLCS sweep damage their timing as transient October holidays have carried out to Dodger groups prior to now? In any case, that is the fifth time in World Sequence historical past a group coming off a sweep performed a group that was stretched to seven video games, and within the earlier 4 occasions, the group that was stretched received the sequence.
The Dodgers will roll out one other ace, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, in Recreation 2 Saturday. He pitched a whole recreation in his final begin, so perhaps there’s no trigger to fret.
Or perhaps the Blue Jays simply gave them 11 good causes to fret.
In any case, Toronto started the sport as a heavy underdog, and for 3 good causes, however none of their fears have been realized.
They have been beginning Trey Yesavage, a rookie pitcher who started the season within the Class-A Florida State League pitching for the Dunedin Blue Jays in entrance of 328 followers in opposition to the Jupiter Hammerheads. The 22-year-old was the second-youngest beginning pitcher in World Sequence opener historical past. He had made simply six complete major-league begins, and simply final week was shelled for 5 runs in 4 innings by the Seattle Mariners within the ALCS.
”I don’t need to be on the market on the mound pondering an excessive amount of as a result of for me, I’m at greatest once I’m simply black lifeless on the market and never pondering in any respect,” he stated earlier than the sport.
He certainly appeared clueless, however he survived three walks and 4 hits in 4 innings by yielding simply two runs.
Second, the Jays have been beginning Bo Bichette at second base regardless that he had not performed the place in six years and by no means within the main league. The group’s standout shortstop, had additionally not performed anyplace in 47 days since he was sidelined with a sprained knee.
“Yeah, it’s crazy,” stated Bichette.
You realize what’s crazier? He singled, walked, turned a double play, and made an excellent stop-and-throw on a grounder earlier than being eliminated for a pinch-runner within the sixth
Third, the Blue Jays have been additionally beginning an outfield trio identified solely to household and shut pals. Kudos to all those that had Myles Straw, Daulton Varsho and Davis Schneider in your bingo card.
Varsho homered. Sufficient stated.
“I think that there’s a lot of firsts for a lot of these guys… I think that players are going to feel certain things that they haven’t felt before,” stated Jays supervisor John Schneider beforehand.
Afterward, that utilized to the immediately shaken Dodgers.
When Dodgers Supervisor Dave Roberts was requested Friday afternoon concerning the strain his group felt, he stated, “None. None whatsoever.”
Verify that.
